ActionScript 3.0 event handling model

ActionScript 3.0 introduces a single event handling model that replaces the different event handling mechanisms that existed in previous versions of ActionScript. The new event model is based on the Document Object Model (DOM) Level 3 Events Specification.

For developers with experience using the ActionScript 2.0 addListener() method, it may be helpful to point out the differences between the ActionScript 2.0 event listener model and the ActionScript 3.0 event model. The following list describes a few of the major differences between the two event models:

To add event listeners in ActionScript 2.0, you use addListener() in some cases and addEventListener() in others, whereas in ActionScript 3.0 you use addEventListener() in all cases.
There is no event flow in ActionScript 2.0, which means that the addListener() method can be called only on the object that broadcasts the event, whereas in ActionScript 3.0 the addEventListener() method can be called on any object that is part of the event flow.
In ActionScript 2.0, event listeners can be either functions, methods, or objects, whereas in ActionScript 3.0, only functions or methods can be event listeners.
The on(event) syntax is no longer supported in ActionScript 3.0, so you cannot attach ActionScript event code to a movie clip. You can only use addEventListener() to add an event listener.

The following example, which listens for a MouseEvent.CLICK event on a Button component called aButton, illustrates the basic ActionScript 3.0 event handling model:

aButton.addEventListener(MouseEvent.CLICK, clickHandler);
function clickHandler(event:MouseEvent):void {
    trace("clickHandler detected an event of type: " + event.type); 
    trace("the event occurred on: " + event.target.name); 
}

For more information on ActionScript 3.0 event handling, see Programming ActionScript 3.0. For more information on ActionScript 3.0 event handling for components, see "Handling events" on page 894.

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